Benzene may swell cancer risk

People who live near industrial areas where the air is polluted with benzene face a higher risk of developing cancer, according to a new study.

Spencer Hunt, The Columbus Dispatch

People who live near industrial areas where the air is polluted with benzene face a higher risk of developing cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta found that the risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was higher near businesses that emitted benzene into the air.

The study, published today in the journal Cancer, raises new concerns about the chemical that is found in crude oil, gasoline and even cigarette smoke. In Ohio in 2011, more than 30 businesses were emitting benzene, among other air pollutants, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Nationwide, hundreds of business released more than 4.5 million pounds of benzene into the air, land and water.

In earlier studies, benzene has been linked to leukemia in industrial workers exposed to the chemical.This study is the first to link non-Hodgkin’s to benzene outside industrial areas, said Catherine Bulka, an Emory research analyst and the study’s lead author.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma affects the immune and lymphatic systems. Little is known about its cause, said Dr. Chris Flowers, a co-author and director of the lymphoma program at Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute.

“For non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the risk factors are much less well-known,” Flowers said. “Until we can identify risk factors, we can’t put in place prevention strategies.”

Flowers and Bulka cautioned that their study does not prove that benzene causes this cancer. They said the research needs to be expanded to examine benzene and cancer incidence in other states.They also plan to study other toxic pollutants, including styrene and formaldehyde, as possible risk factors.

Ohio Department of Health officials listed benzene among the chemicals of concern during a 2002 investigation of eight leukemia cases diagnosed in young men and boys between 1992 and 2001 in Marysville.The agency also examined benzene in connection with elevated cancer rates near a Chevron refinery in Hamilton County from 2003 through 2006.

No link was found in either of the investigations, said Tessie Pollock, an agency spokeswoman.In 1999, the Ohio EPA found that benzene from the New Boston Coke plant in Scioto County created a higher-than-normal cancer risk for 1 in 500 people. A 1-in-10,000 risk prompts Ohio EPA fines and enforcement. The plant closed in 2002.

Ohio’s biggest benzene emitter is General Motors’ Defiance Casting Operations in Defiance County. The foundry released 31,100 pounds in 2011.

In Columbus, the largest is Marathon Petroleum, which released 650 pounds from its West Side storage terminal that year.

The Emory study examined cancer rates in census tracts near industrial sites that, according to a U.S. EPA database, released benzene. Bulka said the research found higher-than-average incident rates of lymphoma near benzene sites in Atlanta and Savannah, Ga.

That risk decreased, she said, as they looked farther away from those industrial sites — an average rate of 0.31 percent per mile.

The research could help change the methods the Ohio EPA and state health officials use to examine cancer risks and causes. Both agencies use protocols set by the U.S. EPA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The federal agencies, however, examine and weigh university research to adjust their protocols.

David Celebrezze, air and water projects director for the Ohio Environmental Council, said the study offers more evidence of benzene’s health risks and suggest that government and businesses should take more steps to protect workers and the public.

“Benzene is in diesel pollution,” he said. “We know there are pollution controls out there that can reduce those emissions by more than 90 percent.”

shunt@dispatch.com

@CDEnvironment

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